Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiThe World According To Engelhardt
Blogging Brobdingnagian Blowback
WASHINGTON - It was neoconservative pundit Charles Krauthammer who, in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, inaugurated Washington's unipolar moment.
'America is no mere international citizen. It is the dominant power in the world, more dominant than any since Rome,' he wrote then, before the Afghan and Iraq wars, before Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, before the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001.
But the United States' 'moment' as an unchallenged superpower was just that -- a moment, a finite period of time, 30 or 40 years to 'reshape norms' and 'alter expectations'. In this new age of empire, Washington would 'create reality'.
How? 'By unapologetic demonstrations of will,' wrote Krauthammer.
Five years after President George W. Bush declared 'mission accomplished' aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln -- and no apologies later -- Washington's hegemony in the Middle East has deteriorated, and along with it, the president's popularity.
The neoconservatives' utopian fantasies of a democratic Iraq have evaporated, as have notions of U.S. military invincibility. And as the U.S. policy crumbles, allies and 'enemies' gather to pick up the pieces.
Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to two U.S. presidents, conceded about Iraq in 2007, 'We are being wrested to a draw by opponents who are not even an organised state adversary.'
To understand how the U.S. arrived at its present condition, how things related and not became part of the same 'axis of evil', and how neoconservatives' 'unapologetic will' morphed into Bush's hubris and subsequent political failures, it behooves us to 'keep the past in mind'.
Especially as we look towards an uncertain future.
And that is exactly what Tom Englehardt -- of the popular blog, TomDispatch -- does. When it comes to the recent past, Englehardt tries 'not to forget the remarkable record of the Bush administration in its various wars.'
His most recent offering, titled 'The World According to TomDispatch: America in the New Age of Empire', is a collection of essays culled from the site over several years, and offers a striking portrait of the limitations of U.S. power in the post 9/11 world.
This collection is a factual rebuttal of the neoconservative argument for unilateral action and interventionism, and will certainly ruffle the feathers of an administration and its supporters with an historical sense of the world, or one that extends -- selectively -- only to Pearl Harbor.
In this new age of empire, it is essential to read between the lines of political rhetoric. As Engelhardt writes in the introduction, 'Despite much talk of 'democracy' and 'liberty,' a Hellfire-missile-armed Predator drone would perhaps be the truest hallmark of the early-twenty first-century American civilisation they presided over.'
As author and editor, Englehardt has provided the reader with sophisticated political analysis that includes essays, letters, correspondence and dispatches by celebrated authors and intellectuals. It is accessible and poetic, unshackled by the turgid writing that keeps most academics on the fringe of mainstream discourse.
Whether he is scouring the Internet for statistics and buried news reports of U.S. air strikes, or hidden in the recesses of the New York Public Library, searching for historical accounts on microfiche, Englehardt digs deep. And in doing so, he sheds light on the sobering reality of the new age of empire, and its painful contradictions.
In a May 2006 essay, titled 'The Billion Dollar Gravestone', he considers the Ground Zero memorial, the Freedom Tower to be built in the footprint of the original World Trade Centre towers, and that is expected to reach exactly 1,776 feet into the sky.
The project, meant as a memorial to those who died on that fateful day, will cost anywhere between 500 million and one billion dollars, a sum exponentially greater than any other U.S. war memorial built before it.
In May 2006, when the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq exceeded 2,700, he asked, 'Who thinks that the United States will ever spend 500 million dollars, no less 1 billion dollars, on a memorial to the ever-growing numbers of war dead from those two wars?'
Who thinks the U.S. will spend that much now that more than 4,600 have died?
As the author writes, 'What was built on Ground Zero will mainly memorialise a specific America that emerged from the rubble of 9/11.'
Englehardt's work -- and those he selects from the blog -- read like poetry. In the rapid-fire blogger world, he breaks the mold by sticking to the old ways: he writes essays. And his work has only been strengthened by the addition of other fine contributions.
In one, celebrated intellectual and war critic Noam Chomsky asks, 'What if Iran had invaded Mexico?' As he writes, a new study using 'government and Rand Corporation data' reveals that, as of March 2007, the Iraq war has already led to a 'sevenfold increase in terror', a statistic that invalidates the Bush administration's claims to the contrary.
But most crucially, Chomsky turns mainstream discourse on its head, critiquing notions of objective truth and underscoring the limits of acceptable U.S. public debate. 'The cruder of two systems leads, naturally enough to disbelief,' he writes. 'The sophisticated variant gives the impression of openness and freedom, and so far more effectively serves to instill the party line. It becomes beyond question, beyond thought itself, like the air we breathe.'
Another essay, written by Chalmers Johnson and titled 'Smash of Civilisations', details the looting of antiquities in Baghdad, and the U.S. failure to stop it. 'Our occupation forces were letting perhaps the greatest of all human patrimonies be looted and smashed,' writes Johnson. (Note: the editors and authors have dedicated a portion of the royalties from this book to the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.)
And the discussion extends beyond the Middle East. Other essays deal with U.S. plans in the Far East; the rearmament of 'pacifist' Japan to offset Chinese interests; pseudo-states; the 'tri-border' area in Latin America, where al Qaeda is rumoured to be, but where the lack of evidence suggests it is not; gunboat diplomacy; personal accounts from Hamra Street in Beirut, during the Israeli siege of Lebanon in the summer of 2006; comparisons between the U.S. discourse used to prosecute the 'Global War on Terror' and, more than a century earlier, the American Indian wars.
Englehardt and contributors to this book detail the Bush administration's supersized response to the 9/11 attacks, reminding us of the past, providing a fuller picture to analyse America's 'moment'.
On the night of the terrorist attacks, the president warned the citizenry of the U.S. that the 'our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there.'
With the U.S. footprint looming large over the world, does it all make us any safer?
'Don't be ridiculous,' writes Englehardt.
© 2008 Inter Press Service
25 Comments so far
Show Allwolf123 July 17th, 2008 2:57 am writes:
And just WHERE will you be hiding when the barbarians smash down
your door to rape and pillage?
Take a careful look around you my friend. They already have.
Gail July 15th, 2008 9:25 pm
"Yes, Charles…..and our collapse will be twice as grand!
And just WHERE will you be hiding when the barbarians smash down your door to rape and pillage?
Or will you take the easy way out and slit your throat first?
Tom Englehardt has probably run into a quite a few wanna be neo-con theorists while teaching. They were probably the loud conservative students who disrupted class every time the instructor spoke on something they did not agree with, would crash rival group's meetings and disrupt them SA style, and bitch profusely every time one of their hair brained thesis' was given a grade lower than a B, with the comment of "fanciful theories that do not take into consideration facts on the ground," (which is the Project For the New American Century papers in a nutshell). Unfortunately for the USA and the World, these clowns were able to ride on the coattails of the President Select and get the boob to go with it because they made sure his corporate bro's would suckle the government tit in the form of no bid contracts. No they are scurrying like rats from a sinking ship and writing books that say, "I'm not to blame!"
Tom Englehardt has probably run into a quite a few wanna be neo-con theorists while teaching. They were probably the loud conservative students who disrupted class every time the instructor spoke on something they did not agree with, would crash rival group's meetings and disrupt them SA style, and bitch profusely every time one of their hair brained thesis' was given a grade lower than a B, with the comment of "fanciful theories that do not take into consideration facts on the ground," (which is the Project For the New American Century papers in a nutshell). Unfortunately for the USA and the World, these clowns were able to ride on the coattails of the President Select and get the boob to go with it because they made sure his corporate bro's would suckle the government tit in the form of no bid contracts. No they are scurrying like rats from a sinking ship and writing books that say, "I'm not to blame!"
Tom Englehardt has probably run into a quite a few wanna be neo-con theorists while teaching. They were probably the loud conservative students who disrupted class every time the instructor spoke on something they did not agree with, would crash rival group's meetings and disrupt them SA style, and bitch profusely every time one of their hair brained thesis' was given a grade lower than a B, with the comment of "fanciful theories that do not take into consideration facts on the ground," (which is the Project For the New American Century papers in a nutshell). Unfortunately for the USA and the World, these clowns were able to ride on the coattails of the President Select and get the boob to go with it because they made sure his corporate bro's would suckle the government tit in the form of no bid contracts. No they are scurrying like rats from a sinking ship and writing books that say, "I'm not to blame!"
Tom Englehardt has probably run into a quite a few wanna be neo-con theorists while teaching. They were probably the loud conservative students who disrupted class every time the instructor spoke on something they did not agree with, would crash rival group's meetings and disrupt them SA style, and bitch profusely every time one of their hair brained thesis' was given a grade lower than a B, with the comment of "fanciful theories that do not take into consideration facts on the ground," (which is the Project For the New American Century papers in a nutshell). Unfortunately for the USA and the World, these clowns were able to ride on the coattails of the President Select and get the boob to go with it because they made sure his corporate bro's would suckle the government tit in the form of no bid contracts. Now they are scurrying like rats from a sinking ship and writing books that say, "I'm not to blame!"
BRAVO to Tom Engelhardt and to TomDispatch.
Tom is a fact guy, a persistant, intelligent, leftista, journalist professor (NY; Cal, Berkeley), with an solid humanitarian attitude, a guy to be trusted, and who educates so many on the left and wanabe informed.
We are so lucky to have him as our professor.
Old Glory
old glory
stretch the story
old glory
stretcher story
box and glory
stretcher stories boxed with glory
storied stretched twins
trade stories
of gravity charades
pulverized physics parades
pools or iron
hotter than Hades
or...
jet fuel
the shredder of chutzpah proportions
reality with more revisions than windows
or shysters with more gumption than money changers
where the stop loss shorts of destiny chaos
beats gravity for more than the crash
missing some points Glory?
old glory
refused an old empire
but forgot the point
waves windless boldly
on the dark side
where shame
lost it's digits
a moon reflection
"America is no mere international citizen. It is the dominant power in the world, more dominant than any since Rome,..." -Charles Krauthammer
Yes, Charles.....and our collapse will be twice as grand!
I'm really getting tired of intellectual morons.
The neo-con empire never got off the ground, but the USA is economic burnt toast. This little quote came from the StarTribune.com in economyincrisis.org and pretty much sums up our fate in the global economy:
"Foreign investors went shopping in the United States last year, attracted partly by the cheap dollar. Spending to acquire or establish American businesses grew to $276.8 billion in 2007, 67 percent more than in 2006 and the highest level since the peak in 2000, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The vast share of this was acquisitions, but spending on existing businesses grew too, up by 29 percent over 2006. Net foreign direct investment, which also includes funding for existing operations, was $204.4 billion, up by 13 percent. More Americans are getting their paychecks from foreign firms: 5.3 million in 2006, or 4.5 percent of the private workforce".
leftk,
sounds a lot like Hitler
unionave, jojoba is an impressive perennial oilbush/tree having evolved into a highly successful biomachine that can penetrate 40 ft or more down to the aquifer and efficiently draw up the minerals it needs from the rocks in the harshest desert climate in North America and produce 200 gal or more of oil per acre with only propagation management and harvest labor inputs. A model policy for individuals to secure a reasonable mode of transport is to limit one's consumption of liquid fuel to 100 gal./year and write up a contract with a local small independent farmer for biofuel production, specifying a highly sustainable species such as jojoba and other criteria such as a certain standard in permaculture production, including mix of native companion plant species, no water/chemical inputs, and a topworking program to propagate the more productive genetic lines from local wild lines. An integrated harvester/oilpress seems like a promising idea. Its capacity is small so that it may be fabricated locally and easily handled and it may return the oilnut remains directly to the field.
Mr. Engelhardt helped splay the bloody carcass of the capitalist beast on the ground for all to inspect.
I asked the question to several media posts and will repeat it. 'If the "Terrorists of 9/11 had simply wanted to kill "infidels" (to Islam those are the "unbelievers") then why did they not perform their task in Mexico City? There is no equivalent to the FAA to ground the other aircraft, so they could have killed one million or more. The only answer to this question could be----Mexico does not meddle in the affairs of other nations--the USA does and always has. The USA brought the disaster upon themselves, and they have no one else to blame. They then went to war on TWO fronts, (historically a very big mistake for other nations) for false reasons shedding much more innocent blood than 9/11, as well as the blood of their own, in an absolute exercise in stupid futility. To "Bring Democracy" to a people who would rather live in a Medieval Political system dictated by a Medieval publication held over from a medieval period that proved to be faulty.
I have little sympathy for a Nation that has so much to offer the world, but has chosen to inflict so much misery, on so many innocent people, for it's entire history.
America has no one to blame but themselves for their woes. There still may be some time to change ----but the Americans, steeped in revisionist history, with a vain self righteous view point of themselves (with few exceptions) probably do not have much time left to make the necessary changes. The world cannot tolerate the USA much longer and hope to survive themselves.
History may treat the USA as a "good thought", but a tragic example of human stupidity and excess. They "almost had it" but far too many people gave far too much power to far too many people who had far too few qualificatons----and a few fed off the many, for far too long.
By the way, Gasoline in Mexico sells for almost half of the USA price, yet they pay the same for a barrel of oil as the rest of the world.
Maybe gargoyle Krauthammer can't get laid so he wants to fuck us all.
I Love Tomdispatch...facts are crucial ---> to show what we all know - instinctually.
What is happening is known to us ...intuitively. "Facts" are not necessary. There is not one Philosophy book - including the infamous Bible, that does not contain the "eternal facts" As Siouxrose would say, If your "God" is Mars, you get what you get. The way to survival is well known. It is simply a matter of doing what is right. No secret here. So, what's the problem?
We cannot possibly reduce our dependence on foreign oil because this is not our terrorist fighting strategy.
Our strategy is to control oil fields with military might.
One is not allowed to question this strategy, only to demand even more military might when our current levels of force seem insufficient.
I'm no political scientist, but I am a language guy and I know that "unapologetic demonstrations of will" sounds a bit like fascist speech indicative of modernist statism. Create a new world by force of will. Sounds a little like someone I've read about before.
Charles Krauthammer's Zionism is clearly racist and, well, sounds a little like Hitler.
Everyone only suspected we were in trouble.
Bush put paid to that.
Now, everyone KNOWS just how bad it is.
I can't wait for "Tom"'s take on today's blathering.
Many years ago some one discovered that the oil from the jojoba bean (Indigenous to America) could lubricate all of our machinery . Including auto engines . A crank case full of this bean oil would mean just change the filter and top off the oil . Production of this bean oil would bring the crude oil prices down to 1930's prices and the speculators would be jumping out the windows . This bean grows well in most of north and south America . The petro and auto companies have designed the auto in a way to make it difficult to burn anything other than gasoline and in doing so have increased the cost of auto production parts greatly . So why fret over fuel , lets start with the other products which require no modifications to the auto . This could reduce our importation of mid-east oil .
May Mr. Engelhardt's work be widely read. I, for one, am a fan of his incisive journalism and willingness to tell the truth as few in media can or do. I hope there's at least one essay by Nick Turse in the new volume, his "Legion of the Fallen" citing the fate of conscientious whistle blowers is critically important for historical value alone.
"This collection...will certainly ruffle the feathers of an administration and its supporters"
I'm quite sure that they are fearfully huddled together in Reichmarshall Cheney's Führer bunker, quaking in their boots as we speak.
In ancient times when sucessful returning Roman generals had a welcome parade they put a slave on the back of their chariot to whisper "Remember man, you are but mortal" in the hero's ear. Alas, I saw none of that when our cowboy-in-chief paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Fed chairman says economy is confronting 'numerous difficulties' - just as Ahab and the captains of the Titanic and Hindenburg said at (their) last.
Mission Accomplished! If destruction of America was what Bush and the Neo-Con's corporations had on their mind. Tomorrow the world, eh?
readers of commondreams should bookmark
www.tomdispatch.com. current entry is from
the book. has had good articles on the MICC
and other topics
Tom is a human bunker buster..he goes right into the guts of the story and never fails to provide food for thought and fodder for discussion. By keeping his illustrious group of writers supplying information for us that we would have trouble finding elsewhere we have the materials needed for logical discourse on issues of vast importance to understanding the way things really are. Kudos to Tom and his friends.